Jack Tretton says thank you for a great 2009

In a belated happy new year blog Jack Tretton, CEO and President of Sony Computer Entertainment took a moment to celebrate 2009 as the “best year yet for the PS3″ and thanked you for making it so.

2009 saw fantastic figures for the console with NPD numbers showing a 36% sales increase on hardware when compared to last January. Tretton also emphasised NPD’s Top Global Markets report which showed the PlayStation to be the only company which saw its consumers spending more than 15% on software than in 2008 across the three major territories (UK, US and Japan).

Stats don’t tell the complete picture; even without the the long awaited price drop, anything other than an improvement on 2008 would have been considered a bad year. Nevertheless, the figures are impressive and they reinforce the feeling that the PS3 is really starting to hit its stride.

With console exclusives such as Uncharted 2 exceeding the company’s “lofty expectations” and MAG which has sold half a million copies so far, the PS3 is in a strong place right now.

Possibly the most impressive figures are for the PlayStation Network.

“PlayStation Network experienced huge growth last year, marking its best revenue month in December – a 155% increase in sales from the previous year. More than 40 million of you all over the world are coming to PlayStation Network to access multimedia content and to enhance your social gaming experiences.”

PSN has undoubtedly proven to be a welcome revenue scheme for the company and it is likely that 2010 will see a massive push in online content, continuing on from the great strides made during 2009.

Tretton signed off by listing the key franchises which they expect to push the system in the following year: MAG, White Knight Chronicles, BioShock 2, Heavy Rain, God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, and the promise of some surprises on the way also.

“not to mention the many other games we’re keeping up our sleeve”

Let’s hope the omission of Gran Turismo isn’t a sign that it’s been put back to 2011.